Washing machines are common household electrical appliances in daily life, and main operation modes of the washing machine may be classified into a washing working condition and a dewatering working condition.
Reference is made to FIG. 1, which is a schematic view showing the structure of a conventional drive device of a washing machine.
As illustrated in the drawing, the drive device for the washing machine includes a motor, a washing shaft 12 coaxially mounted in a motor rotor 11, and a dewatering shaft sleeve 13 sleeved on the washing shaft 12. The washing shaft 12 and the motor rotor 11 are rotatable with respect to each other, and the dewatering shaft sleeve 13 and the washing shaft 12 are rotatable with respect to each other.
The drive device for the washing machine further includes a gear speed reduction mechanism eccentrically installed in the motor rotor 11. The gear speed reduction mechanism includes an input gear shaft 14, a first gear 15, a second gear 16, a middle gear 17 and an output gear 18. The input gear shaft 14 is eccentrically inserted in the motor rotor 11, and is rotatable with respect to the motor rotor 11. The first gear 15 and the second gear 16 are fixedly mounted at two ends of the input gear shaft 14 respectively, the middle gear 17 is sleeved on the dewatering shaft sleeve 13, and the output gear 18 is fixedly connected to the washing shaft 12. The first gear 15 meshes with the middle gear 17, and the second gear 16 meshes with the output gear 18.
In operation, the motor drives the motor rotor 11 to rotate, and at the same time drives the input gear shaft 14 as well as the first gear 15 and the second gear 16 both fixedly mounted to the input gear shaft 14 to revolve. The first gear 15 meshes with the middle gear 17 and there is a difference between the number of teeth of the first gear 15 and the number of teeth of the middle gear 17, thus the input gear shaft 14 can also be driven to rotate on its own axis. Further, the output gear 18 is driven to rotate through the engagement between the second gear 16 and the output gear 18, and finally, the washing shaft 12 fixedly connected to the output gear 18 is driven to rotate. Due to the differences in the numbers of teeth of the gears, a rotation speed difference may be generated between the output gear 18 and the motor rotor 11, to thereby driving the washing shaft 12 to output at a low speed. The middle gear 17 is sleeved on the dewatering shaft sleeve 13 and is in a non-fixed state, therefore, while the washing shaft 12 outputs at a low speed, the dewatering shaft sleeve 13 also outputs at a low speed at a certain speed ratio.
However, the above drive device for the washing machine has the following issues.
Since the gear speed reduction mechanism is eccentrically installed in the motor rotor 11, power is inputted into the input gear shaft 14 eccentrically arranged, and then transmitted to the washing shaft 12, which reduces the working efficiency, and cannot achieve an idea output efficiency. In addition, the gear speed reduction mechanism being eccentrically installed in the motor rotor 11 is apt to cause the unsmooth operation of the motor rotor 11, reduces the working performance of the motor rotor 11, and is not good for improving the performance of the whole machine.
Therefore, a technical issue to be addressed by the person skilled in the art at present is to improve a drive device for the washing machine, to enable the drive device to have a high efficiency and enable the whole machine to have a stable performance.